Well, today was not the best of weathers we have had.

I got caught standing in a shop door trying to stop the hailstones killing me.

I can categorically state that I did not (consciously) provoke their rage.

And then later on, I saw a rainbow. A passerby noted how it was the brightest rainbow he had seen in years - there was a full arc.

But my phone camera is not too good in showing the bright colours - it washes such things out (like when I took a photo of some traffic lights and instead of neon red and green, they came across as closer to faded out white).

Hailstones on the floor after - suddenly and without any obvious provocation - they started to attack me. Bad hail stones.

I had the last laugh though - see how they are laid across the floor as I was still standing? Muwahahahaha

Ok, spring is here.

and I suspect most of us here have access to either a camera or a camera phone.

So happy snapping.

Lets see what people can capture.

and remember guys - no bird watching!

As always, snap and then upload to the site adding some description.

Am I the only one who notices this same pattern over and over again?

The Israeli government seems to abuse the want for peace by others.

Just a day after movement in the peace process where Arab ministers and some Palestinian leaders said they would negotiate even though the circumstances were not to their liking, Israel moves the goal posts again by authorising new apartments to be built in settlements in the West Bank.

I was just reading something a few days ago and a part if it was describing a type of person. Half way through, I thought "wait a minute... is that me?"

It was a description of problem people, who seem to be able to cause problems in organisations, decision making and more:

...Think about the man who…

• Speaks for a long, loud, first and often
• Offers his opinion immediately whenever someone makes a proposal, asks a question, or if there’s a lull in discussion
• Speaks with too much authority: “Actually, it’s like this…”
• Can’t amend a proposal or idea he disagrees with, but trashes it instead
• Makes faces every time someone says something he disagrees with

ok, this is something that for some reasom irritates me.

It shouldn't because it is extremely minor, but it does.

So when someone accepts Islam, do they revert or convert?

The arguments are as follows:

Argument for using "revert"

Unlike Christians, Muslims do not accept "Original Sin" and that all humans are born in a sinful state. We believe that people are born pure.

Since Islam is accepting God and returning to a purer state, people say that someone has reverted to islam

Argument for using "convert"

Well, this one is simple - people have chosen to accept Islam. Unless they were previously Muslims who had converted to something other than islam and then back, they are simply converting to Islam.

My view

Many people are crucifying Ed Balls and the Labour government for this, but I think it is a good move:

MPs pass Ed Balls's controversial change to the sex education bill, allowing faith schools to opt out of rules on teaching homosexuality and contraception

What this *should* mean is that while the subjects still have to be taught, they do not have to tow the government line on such things and pretend it is all happy families.

Even on the issue of contraception it would give the schools the right to put forward a stronger message than they maybe were previously allowed.

I have mentioned this a few times, but then I also go back to how things are.

The issue is that us Muslims seem to almost excusively focus on the plight of the Palestinians.

Why? because it is easy and it is well know.

Yet there are other places in the world where Muslims live and where humans are also suffering - some times at the hands of other Muslims.

This is nothing new and I am sure we can all name drop a few different places where things are happening - Nigeria in the Nigerian Delta, Sudan in southern Sudan and the Darfour region, Somalia, Chechnya, Assam in India, the Uyghurs in china.

Recently A founder of Hamas, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was assassinated in Dubai - a hit deemed to have been ordered/organised by the Israeli security service, Mossad.

A major sub-plot of this hit was the use of faked passports of European nations - eight of them being faked passports of UK citizens.

This is a concern because having a British passport is a privilege and works as a safety net for British citizens should something go wrong when abroad. If the British Passport loses its credibility, that same security and privilege given to holders of the British passport is reduced.

As the foreign secretary of the UK, David Miliband should be highly concerned when such things happen and should be taking Israel to task over this as it endangers the lives of British citizens.

David Miliband at the Munich Security Conference on 7 February 2009.